In promoting the sale of consumer products, it is common for a manufacturer to provide consumers with coupons which, when presented to a retail store at the time of purchase of the product, give the consumer a discount from the sale price of the product.
One common method of distributing coupons to the consumer is to have the coupons printed in newspaper advertisements or on advertising inserts that are inserted into and distributed with newspapers. Another common method of distributing promotional coupons is to distribute them at the point of sale by having a large number of coupons bound into a pad and displaying the pad of coupons in the store adjacent to the product being promoted. In both of these cases, the coupon as printed is valid for redemption. The consumer merely presents the coupon to the retail store at the time of purchase and receives a discount from the selling price of the product. The retail store accumulates the coupons received from consumers and sends them to a clearing house. Typically the retail store is paid an amount equal to the discount plus a handling charge for each coupon. The clearing house in turn is reimbursed by the product manufacturer an amount equal to the amount paid to the retail store plus a handling charge for each coupon. One problem with coupons that are valid as issued is that it is relatively easy for either the retail store or a clearing house to mis-redeem coupons. For example, the retail store can accumulate coupons that have not been presented by consumers at the time of a purchase, send these coupons to the clearing house and receive the discount price and handling charge for those coupons even though they were not used by a consumer. Another form of mis-redemption occurs when the clearing house accumulates coupons that have not been sent to them by retail stores, and receives the reimbursement and handling charge for those coupons from the manufacturer.
Thus, it can be seen that it would be desirable to have a coupon that is not valid as issued but requires validation by the consumer prior to use. The additional act of validation represents a form of deterrence to mis-redemption of the coupons by either the retail store or the clearing house.
When coupons are distributed at the point of sale, it is also believed that a coupon that is not valid as issued has a slight advantage over a coupon that is valid as issued. If the coupon is valid as issued, the consumer may take the coupon and use it to obtain a discount on the current purchase. But if the coupon is not valid as issued at the point of sale, the consumer who takes the coupon may make a current purchase at the regular price, and then will validate the coupon to obtain a discount on a subsequent purchase. Thus, the coupon that is not valid as issued may possibly support two separate purchases.